Order of the Emerald Shards
(This page is for the Order's lore. For the Knight of the Emerald Shards class information visit the page Knights of the Emerald Shards Class Information.) The Order of the Emerald Shards is a Knight Order created by King Bruenor Battlehammer and charged with keeping all of Faerûn from extraplaner threats. While this goal is currently far out of their reach the Order of the Emerald Shards is extreemly good at their job in the areas they have a steak in and are seeking to expand to all cornors of Farun one day. Founding of the Order The order of the Emerald Shards was founded by King Bruenor Battlehammer on the 12th of Flamerule in 1385 DR. The founding members of the order were the members of the adventuring party who had ended the Abyssal Crisis by closing the last of the hellgates and slaying not one but two avatars of Asmodeus. The founding members, also referred to as the Heroes of the Emerald Shards, were given a plot of land as well as two million gold pieces by the dwarf king to establish a strong hold to use as their base of operations. The Heroes of the Emerald Shards traveled to Candlekeep and used its library to design their carved-into-a-mountain-side keep. Named Whitehaven Hold by its creators the keep is large, having a full three stories of space carved into the side of the rear most mountain of the Order's valley. Their valley also contains Windhallow Town which was built at the same time as the keep as a farming, manufacturing, and trade center for the Order. The reasoning behind the decision was to ensure the Order would have its own trade empire for funding and not have to drain the resources of Mithril Hall, even to the point of digging a long cannal to have a water route to a river system which connects it to such trade cities as Silverymoon and Waterdeep. All of this was planned out before the first stone of Whitehaven was even cut from the mountain. Duties of the Order The Order of the Emerald Shards is charged with protecting mortals from extraplaner threats, reguardless of if the threat is a deamon or a mad god. The entire point of their existance is that most mortals cannot stand before the immortal forces and live to tell the tale, therefore somone must protect them. The Duties of the Order are as folows: *Protect the Innocent. *Slay deamons on site. *Investagate reports of supernatural activity. *Patroll known supernatural locations: Natural planer portals, haunted areas, etc. Rank Structure The Order has a well defined rank structure which is meant to weed out the fearfull, the greedy, and the glory hounds from their ranks and ensure that such people never become a Knight. All of the Order's rank titles with a male gender specific word in them have a female form; from lowest to highest the ranks are: Entry Requirements & Rank Progression There are many ranks within the Knight Order, from the lowly Neophyte to the lofty Grandmaster. While anyone who can pass the Applicant test is concitered a member of the Order of the Emerald Shards they are not considered a Knight untill several trials have been passed. To enter the Order an Applicant must: #Prove he or she can read and write in at least one language, as well as preform basic arithmatic. #Show they are capable with a weapon, or skilled in the martial arts by duling one of the Knights to first blood. Passing these tests grants entry into the Order and the title of Nephyte. To progress from a Nephyte to a Squire the Nephyte must: #Serve at Whitehaven Hold (or another of the Order's Strongholds) for a full year. #Gain the attention of one of the Knights, who then agrees to take them on as a Squire. A Squire will go one to become a Man-at-Arms (or Lady-at-Arms) once: #Their Knight Instructor informs his superiors the Squire has learned all he or she is able to learn from one on one instruction. #The Squire passes a test of Courage and Will at the hands of the Order's patron spirit Meeril. The Man-at-Arms will advance in rank to a Knight Brother/Sister after: #He or she has preformed a fitting task and thus earned a recomendation from three diffrent Knights. #Journied to the High Forrest to receve the blessing and a token from the Great Sage Kyrie. Once these requirments have been met the Man-at-Arms is inducted into the order via a magical ritual involving vowes to protect mortals from the immortal. Once compleated the ritual endows the Knight with the magical powers the Order's Knights are known for. A Knight Brother/Sister can be promoted to a Knight Lieutenant: #After at least 5 years of service as a Knight. #Having repeatedly proven his or her self in battle against extraplaner foes. A Knight Lieutenant may be made a Knight Commander if: #They have served as a Knight Lieutenant for at least 10 years. #Have lead the Knights under their command to victory agesnt foes in at least 5 noteworthy battles. #Have personaly slain a powerfull outsider. Getting Appointed as a Knight Councilman or Councilwoman requires: #The Knight in question to be too old or crippled to be of further service in the field. #At least 10 years in a leadership rank or having shown outstanding leadership. #Have personaly slain a powerfull outsider. #Must be elected to the Council by a 90% vote. To become the Grandmaster of the Order the requirements are much diffrent. Anyone may become the Grandmaster should the prievious one die or be unanimously voted not only by the council but by the Knights as well. The only requirement is that the person embodies the honor, courage, guardianship, and passion the Order holds paramount. Such a person will be voted in by the Council, it must be a unanimous vote but for somone who embodies those ideals the odds of getting that vote are 100%. Should no suitable candaates be present within the order the posision is given to tthe Knight Commander of Whitehaven Hold untill one such person comes forth.